


Variations on a Plane

by HMS_Chill



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Established Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, There's two versions of this, falling asleep, like just pure fluff my guy, not-famous au, soft fluffy boyfriends, the second is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 11:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20993828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Chill/pseuds/HMS_Chill
Summary: “You sat next to me on the airplane and fell asleep on my shoulder and I don’t want to move you cause you look so comfortable. Oh and you’re hot.” (a prompt with two responses, because I couldn't stop myself)





	1. Meet Cute

Alex hoists his carry on into the overhead bin, then does an awkward shuffle down the row and into his window seat, stuffing a backpack below the seat in front of him and shoving it back as far as it will go to make room for his feet. He's already started to browse the in-flight movie options when someone sits down next to him. From the corner of his eye, Alex sees jeans rolled up at the bottom kicking a bag with a pronoun pin further under the seat. From what he can tell, his gaydar has been working decently in the UK, and those are both good signs. 

"Anything good on?" the other boy asks, and Alex realizes he doesn't have his headphones in. Not that it matters; he would have wanted to talk anyway. He notices suddenly that the other boy smells good. He'd been worried about his seat mate smelling bad, but he'd completely forgotten to consider the possibility of the opposite, which may be even more unsettling. 

"Depends what you like. There's a few superhero movies, some cartoons... it looks like a decent selection."

The stranger nods, turning to his screen. Alex goes back to browsing until, a few minutes later, the in-flight safety demonstration pauses their screens. Alex sighs and rolls his eyes, but the stranger leans over to ask, "Have you seen this?"

"What, the safety demonstration? I flew over here, didn't I?"

"No, this movie. I'm trying to decide if it looks good."

Alex cranes his neck to look at the other man's screen, ignoring the notice telling them to watch the flight attendant buckle and unbuckle a seatbelt. "Yeah, it was good. Not like... jaw dropping, best movie I've ever seen good, but I liked it."

"Thanks."

The safety demonstration ends, and their screens unpause as they begin to taxi. Alex browses until takeoff, when he turns to the window. He leans back a bit when the boy beside him looks over his shoulder, and together, they watch London fall away below them.

"This bit never gets old. I'm always a bit sad to see it go, but the city looks so beautiful." Alex has to agree. They've got a horrendously early flight, but seeing London all lit up from above almost makes it worth it. 

"Have you flown out of London a lot?"

"Whenever I fly it's from here. My family lives nearby, and I went to Uni in London."

"It's a nice city."

They watch together until London becomes merely a bright dot against the darkness of the English countryside. The other boy pulls away first, putting in earbuds and starting the movie Alex said was good. Alex starts his own moving not long after, trying to ignore the handsome boy next to him, resisting the urge to make sure he's liking the movie. The stewardess comes out with snacks, and Alex gets coffee, hoping the second dose of caffeine will turn him into a being who is more human than simply an embodiment of exhaustion. The boy next to him gets tea, which is very British, and Alex tries not to find it at all endearing. 

The in-flight map shows them just leaving Wales when Alex feels a weight on his shoulder. Something soft is tickling the side of his jaw. He turns slowly to see the other boy asleep, his head flopped onto Alex's shoulder. His movie's still playing, and Alex knows there's an explosion coming. The loud noise could wake the other boy up, so Alex leans over to pause the movie, careful not to jostle his new passenger too much. If this stranger is tired enough to fall asleep on someone else on a plane, he deserves the nap, and letting him sleep is the least Alex can do.

He sleeps through most of Alex's movie, and Alex finds himself humming softly when they hit some minor turbulence. The other boy starts to wake up a bit, but he settles down with Alex's humming, letting out a soft snore. Alex just smiles, counting it as a success. He sleeps until the cabin staff start wheeling the breakfast carts down the aisle, when Alex shakes his shoulder gently and says, "Hey, they're bringing food. You'll need to let them know what you want."

"Huh? Oh, oh no, I'm... I'm so sorry." He's turned a fantastic shade of red, but Alex shakes his head. 

"No; it's fine. Don't be sorry. I'm glad I make a good pillow, though I have to admit, I'm a bit insulted my movie suggestion wasn't good enough to keep you awake."

"I'm so sorry. It's... I've been up late recently, and it was an early flight, so I got like two hours of sleep... I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. We've all been there, and I didn't mind. If... if you still need sleep after breakfast, and if you only got a couple hours last night you definitely will, you're welcome to use my shoulder again. We can even use one of these mini pillows to make it more comfortable."

"I'll... I'll try my best not to take you up on that, but it's been a lot recently, so I can't promise anything." He might be trying to make a joke, but it's not convincingly light-hearted enough.

"That's okay. If... Would it help to talk about it? Whatever's been a lot, I mean. If you want, I'm here, you can just unload it all on me and then we'll get off this plane and never see each other again."

"It... it really is a lot. I don't want to overwhelm you."

"No; go for it. I'm in a gap between stressful things. I can handle it."

So they get their meals, and the other boy tells him that he's traveling to do research on queer history. He's gotten an incredibly competitive grant, and the whole application process was stressful. His family's been waiting for him to do something with himself since he graduated a few months ago, and that only made the application and waiting process more stressful. Then, in the midst of getting his travel plans and documents together, he came out to his family, and his grandma threw a fit. His mom was nice about it but hasn't been close to them since his dad died, and his older brother stormed out of the house and hasn't been answering any of his texts or calls. He's still got his big sister, but he's terrified he's lost half his family. He almost gave up the grant to stay home and work things out, but his sister made him keep it, so he left them all behind, and he's terrified that he did the wrong thing because what if he could have fixed things by staying? Should he have come out at all? Was breaking apart the family he has left really worth it?

By the end of his story, there are tears in his eyes, so Alex offers a shoulder and he sniffles, forcing a bit of a laugh as he hides his face. Alex hands him the breakfast bar that came as part of the meal service and talks about his own coming out, about how scared he was that his Catholic dad especially would be upset, but how they'd taken it well and they love him. Then he hands the other boy his own breakfast bar and talks about how coming out was really the only way he could be close to his family, because you can't really have a relationship with someone if you're hiding such a massive thing from them. By the time he's starting to get into how things are going to get better, the other boy has fallen asleep again, and Alex just smiles as he turns back to his movie, stealing a muffin from the other boy's breakfast tray. 

When the stewardess comes to collect their dishes, she tells Alex that they make a cute couple. There's really no point in correcting her. 

A movie and a half later, there's an in-flight lunch. The other boy wakes up more easily this time, though he still turns bright red when he realizes he fell asleep again. Alex just grins and makes sure he actually eats most of their lunch, since his breakfast was small. He vows to stay awake and actually watch the movie Alex suggested, and as a joke, Alex leans over to watch with him. But then, well, his shoulder is nice. He's wearing a soft sweater, and the ball of muscle below it makes a nice pillow. And, well, it was an early flight. Alex was up at 1:30 to make it to the airport by 2:00, and every coffee he's had since has worn off by now. 

The next thing Alex knows, someone's shaking his shoulder, and his head is bouncing a bit. He opens his eyes to see the other boy chuckling. 

"We're landing soon; I thought you might want to watch. I at least hoped you'd open the window so I could. I hope I was as good of a pillow for you as you were for me."

"You're a great pillow," Alex says, yawning and stretching a bit, then turning to push the window open. "Is DC your final stop?"

"No; I'm on to New York for research on the Stonewall riots. What about you?"

"I'm headed to New York for school. Uni, I guess, for you fancy brits. I'm starting my law degree. Hang on, I've got my flight number somewhere. It leaves at like... 9:15ish?"

"So does mine! What a coincidence."

"Here; give me your number. We can find each other after customs and get coffee or something? Will your phone work in the US?"

"It should connect to the airport's internet."

"Perfect; we'll meet up after customs and get coffee or overpriced food or something."

They exchange numbers, and on the ground, Alex texts the other boy ('Henry', according to the name he put in Alex's phone) to complain about how long customs is taking. Henry tells him to be patient, and Alex rolls his eyes. 

They meet up at a Starbucks near their gate, then again at a coffee shop near Alex's apartment their first week in New York City. Then again at a coffee shop near where Henry's living. Then they meet up for dinner and a movie, and when Henry falls asleep in the Uber on the way back to Alex's apartment, Alex pays the driver to make four trips around the block so he can wake his boyfriend up slowly, reveling in the way Henry's face is squished against his shoulder and the softness of Henry's hair on his jaw. 

Really, when Henry falls asleep on him looking so good, it's no wonder Alex fell in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing on timing. I didn't want to do research on how long flights take for things, so I'm basing their London--> DC flight roughly off the Lisbon--> Chicago flight I took earlier this year. Given that and a bit of subtraction, it's roughly an 8 hour flight with a five hour time difference, meaning that if they left London at 4 AM (meaning arriving at the airport around 2 AM) they'd arrive in DC by 7. They're getting to DC early to let them arrive in NYC and get to their final destination by about noon. That's more math than I've done all semester, please appreciate it and don't correct me if I'm wrong; I'm a can't-do-math gay.  
-  
As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! Let me know what you like! What you hate! If I made a typo (please god let me know if I made a typo)! I love talking to y'all about what I make! Cheers!


	2. Fluffy Boyfriends

"Henry, you've been working for ages. Just put the laptop down while we're in the air?"

"I've just got to--" he's cut off by a cough, and in his moment of weakness, Alex snatches the laptop and hands it to Zahra, who saves Henry's work and puts the laptop in an overhead bin. Shaan hands Henry a cup of tea, likely with honey. Henry's been coughing for the past weeks, and his goal of drowning the germs in tea with honey hasn't worked yet, but he's giving it a valiant effort. 

"This is treason," Henry mutters. 

"No, it's an intervention. You need a break, Baby. Let's watch a movie or something and just relax for a bit, okay? Your book will still be there when we land. Come on; I'll watch _Bake Off_ with you." He pats the seat next to him, and Henry comes over slowly as Cash hands Alex the biggest blanket they've brought. Henry takes Alex's hand, but he shakes his head when Alex offers him a spot under the blanket.__

_ _"I don't want to get you sick."_ _

_ _"If you were going to get me sick you would have done it by now. Just come cuddle me," Alex grumbles, moving so that they're pressed up against each other. The laptop on his knees bounces precariously as he shuffles across the couch, but it's worth it when Henry cuddles up beside him, holding Alex's arm like a teddy bear and only letting go to drink tea. Alex grins. "See, Baby? Isn't this nice? Work can wait, I promise."_ _

_ _"You're a menace," Henry mumbles. Alex just starts the episode, and Henry leans over to rest his head on Alex's shoulder. Alex kisses the top of his head._ _

_ _"You love me."_ _

_ _"I do. Thank you."_ _

_ _"Of course. Bea would kill me if I let you die of overwork and an exotic plague."_ _

_ _Henry laughs, cuddling a bit closer. As the contestant on the show finish their first challenge, Alex hears Henry start to snore softly, finally catching up on the sleep he's been missing. He rubs circles into his boyfriend's hand with his thumb, then reaches over to run his fingers through Henry's hair, because he can do that now, and it's just as soft as he used to imagine it. He yawns, then lets his own head rest on that cloud of hair, letting his eyes drift closed. He's just going to rest them for a minute._ _

_ _He wakes up to Cash shaking his shoulder gently._ _

_ _"We're about to start our descent; you two need to get to seats with seatbelts."_ _

_ _Alex yawns and holds out his arms, and Cash rolls his eyes, but he picks Alex up to deposit him in a seat nearby. He does the same for Henry, who's still asleep. Alex fastens their seat belts, then pulls Henry back onto his shoulder and watches out the window as London Heathrow grows beneath them. He leans over to kiss Henry's head again as they're landing in earnest, then gently wakes his boyfriend up to give him time to build His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Wales before they step out into the world. Henry stretches and yawns, and Alex kisses his cheek. Zahra, who from the two flyaways ruining her perfect ponytail has probably just finished a wild makeout session with her fiance, rolls her eyes at them._ _

_ _"There shouldn't be press on the tarmac, but we'll be going from the car to the front of Kensington," she tells them. "So you'll need to at least look decent for that, but it's not too long. Press appointments start tomorrow."_ _

_ _Alex leans over to rub at the lines in Henry's face from his shirt. Henry smiles and yawns again as their wheels touch the ground, and then they're taxiing to a car and getting help from PPOs to unload their bags. As his phone connects to international data, Alex feels it buzz: "Cash 😎 Money has shared an album with you!"_ _

_ _It's an album of photos of him and Henry, asleep on each other. _ _

_ _That night, Alex posts one on instagram with the caption "get you a secret service team who takes cute pics"._ _

_ _It doesn't quite out-score his post from pride, but it comes in close second._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's take 2! I actually really enjoyed writing this twice; I might try to make "Variations on a Theme" a sort of series? If you're interested in that let me know (and maybe send a prompt/theme in? Either to my tumblr or by commenting?).  
-  
As always, I'm [HMS-Chill](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hms-chill) on tumblr for fic stuff; if you wanna chat either there or here please do! Let me know what you like! What you hate! If I made a typo (please god let me know if I made a typo)! I love talking to y'all about what I make! Cheers!


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